Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why El Niño is a Pacific pattern not a storm
El Niño is a months-long shift of winds and warm water across the tropical Pacific, not a storm.
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From the opening
El Niño is a recurring state of the tropical Pacific in which the usual east-to-west contrast weakens, the surface in the central and eastern equatorial ocean warms, and the winds and rainfall shift with it. It is a coupled ocean and atmosphere pattern, not a storm with an eye and a track. The opening covers trades slacken and warm water spreads east, upwelling weakens along the equator, and la Niña is the opposite phase.
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Inside
- Trades slacken and warm water spreads east
- Upwelling weakens along the equator
- La Niña is the opposite phase
- Teleconnections are not the storm itself
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- The El Niño-Southern Oscillation
- Walker's Southern Oscillation and equatorial Pacific upwelling